Comic-Con 2006: Spider-Man 3

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The webslinger amazes with new footage and the first glimpse at Venom.

By Richard George

Every year San Diego holds one main event for the fans. Last year we were treated to King Kong and Tenacious D. This year we got Sam Raimi and Spider-Man 3. In front of a packed house of 7,000 rabid nerds, Raimi brought out the stars of his movie: Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace and Tobey Maguire all joined the blockbuster director.

Simply put, Raimi tore down the house with a sneak preview of the movie. He played a clip that took everything from the original trailer and extended those moments. We discovered who threw the pumpkin bomb. We see more of Sandman and what seems to be his motive in the movie. We see more of Peter Parker's anguish.

And we see Venom.

Venom

In many ways, a quote from Aunt May is going to frame the entire film. At the start of the teaser we saw, she says "Uncle Ben would not want us to live with revenge in our hearts." This not only applies to Peter's losses in the first two movies, but also to Eddie Brock's history and childhood.

"I had been objecting to the lack of humanity [in Venom]&#Array; in studying him I gained an appreciation for him," said Raimi. "Venom has always been a character that the fans love&#Array; that's why he's in here."

While Raimi described the basic inclusion of Venom, Topher Grace provided the key element which made Venom the right villain for this third installment. Grace mentioned that Eddie Brock is a similar character to Peter Parker. He is a mirror to Parker in many ways with both of them working at the same place and having the same tastes in women. The difference between the two is that Eddie Brock has a terrible childhood.

This version of Venom's alter ego seems to be an amalgamation of Venom stories. The core universe's Eddie Brock is a peer of Peter's, though not necessarily a mirror. The Ultimate version is more of a Peter but without a sense of morality. The cartoon's Eddie Brock was relatively faithful to the comic, though his origin varied, as did the core Venom from his ultimate counterpart.

The extended San Diego preview clearly established a sequence of events. Although not directly tied to the "origin of Venom" scene, we do see Eddie Brock in a church, praying to God for the death of Peter Parker. A theory here is that the "Dark Peter" steals Gwen who happens to be Eddie's love interest. Venom first appears in the trailer when Peter drives the symbiote from his body via sonics. The creature then leaks down from the tower, landing on Brock, who then turns into Venom.

The facial design of Venom seemed pretty solid for such an early state. The artists clearly took inspiration from those who designed the character originally. Much of the trademark features remain, including the tongue. The trailer seemed to show a sleek Venom, though it remains to be seen if something in this movie version allows him to grow in size (mass, not height). We will see what other powers he gains or carries over from the symbiote's time with Spider-Man.

The panel that followed the trailer revealed one other semi-major plot point: at some point, Venom captures Mary Jane. We know it's absolutely the most shocking thing you've ever read, but we live for twists like this.

Sandman

We did not learn too much about Sandman save for three facts - he gets owned by Black Suit Spider-Man, he seems to be a sympathetic villain (or perhaps an anti-hero), and he looks incredible.

Sony showed a promotional poster that depicted Sandman bracing himself for some sort of assault. The picture shows his back, and we can see he is pushing a child behind him. Thomas Hayden Church mentioned that his character has a wife and family, so perhaps Sandman is attempting to save his son.

It is also important to notice the timeline that is established by Peter Parker's suit. Unless he drives the suit and "regains" it (which is very possible given the comics), then we can see that Spider-Man has a huge battle in the subways and sewers prior to losing his suit. The trailer showed several battle pieces including one where Spider-Man is holding Sandman's head against a speeding subway car. As the car passes, it smashes and destroys more and more of Sandman's face. Another moment seems to show Sandman being flooded by water and being sucked into a device.

And the special effects were very impressive, despite the fact that we have nearly a year to wait.

Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Peter, you are a bad, bad boy. Even in these two glimpses, we can definitely see a Spider-Man that is more vicious and willing to do what he wants and what it takes to get the job done. He begins to fall for Gwen. His tactics against Sandman are rather ruthless (despite Sandman's relatively invulnerable status).

And just who threw that pumpkin bomb at Harry's face? Peter Parker&#Array; unmasked, and in his black suit.

Tobey refused to go into detail about Peter's insanity, but clearly he's going to sink to some new lows.

Revenge

If we had to choose one word to capture the essence of the first Spider-Man film, it would be "loss." "Responsibility" would seem to sum up the second. From what we've seen, "revenge" seems to be appropriate for this third installment. Eddie seeks justice against Peter for unknown crimes. We're wondering if Sandman is trying to save people from a darker Spider-Man. Peter Parker himself is seeking revenge for all the wrong done to him in his life. Likewise, Harry Osborn seeks to balance his life by seeking retribution. Sam Raimi was quick to point out, however, that Harry becomes neither the Green Goblin nor the Hobgoblin (speaking of which, you guys, Harry Osborn was never the Hobgoblin in the comics, so give it a rest). Raimi indicated that Harry straddles a line that hovers near sinking to his father's chaos, but doesn't quite get there. The guilt over his father's criminal legacy creates a balance to his desire for vengeance.

We can't wait to see where things go from here. Sony unveiled promotional posters for each character at the panel. Mary Jane's depicted her tangled in a web that was made out of some sort of barbed wire. Gwen Stacy was shown in college, studying hard. Venom was shown, tortured by his monstrous existence. The trailer was merely a teaser, showing us footage that was still in a very rudimentary form. Despite that, we saw amazing potential, and the peak at Venom demonstrated that visually Raimi's team knows what it is doing. We might be worried about the story, but again Sam and his group have a great grasp on some excellent character traits and designs. If Eddie Brock is shaped correctly, he could easily become a character that lives up to his popularity level.